Getting Help & Taking Action
Everything the research points to, gathered in one place: where to report, how to get images removed, where to find help and recovery, the open-source tools, the law, and the full library of role-specific guides. If you need to act, start here.
6 min read · 7 sections
If you need help right now
The rest of this chapter is a directory: for each of the most common reasons people come to this site, the place to start and the page that takes you the rest of the way.
Where to report
If you have found child sexual abuse material, or someone is being exploited, you do not need to confirm anything before reporting — and you should never download or screenshot suspected material to “preserve evidence.” Report to the platform, or straight to a clearinghouse if you do not know or trust the platform.
- For Reporting Content — a verified directory of where to report across 114 platforms and the clearinghouses, each with its channel and US reporting-duty status.
- Organization directory — who is who in child protection, mapped by function: hotlines, detection technology, investigators, researchers, prevention helplines, and survivor support.
- Clearinghouses of first resort: NCMEC's CyberTipline (report.cybertip.org, 1-800-843-5678), the IWF, Cybertip.ca, INHOPE for your national hotline, and the FBI at tips.fbi.gov.
Getting intimate images removed
Free services can remove or block an intimate image, and the best ones work without you ever uploading the picture, using an on-device hash. Once an image has spread widely no service can guarantee every copy is gone — but takedowns dramatically reduce its reach, and that is worth doing.
- Get your images removed — a decision guide that routes you to the right free tool for your situation and explains your 48-hour removal right under the TAKE IT DOWN Act.
- Take It Down (NCMEC) for imagery of someone under 18; StopNCII.org for adults, including AI deepfakes; Report Remove (Childline/IWF) for young people in the UK.
- Sextortion survival guide if an image is being used to threaten or extort you.
Help and recovery
Whether you are struggling with your own pornography use, supporting someone who is, or worried about your own sexual thoughts, there is confidential help — and reaching for it early is a sign of strength, not failure.
- Get Help — crisis lines, pornography-recovery programs, and support, with regional and international options.
- Apps & filtering tools — accountability software, content filters, and recovery apps for individuals and families.
- Preventing abuse before it happens — confidential, often anonymous help for people worried about their own sexual thoughts toward children, with an honest account of what the evidence shows.
Protective technology
If you build or run a platform — especially one that hosts user content or generates images — detection is no longer optional, and much of the core tooling is free for qualified organizations.
- Open-source tools — building blocks for CSAM detection, blocking, reporting, and prevention, including perceptual hashing and reporting integrations.
- For Developers — the hands-on implementation guide to wiring detection up correctly, including the file-handling rule that matters most.
- For Tech CEOs and For Compliance Teams for the decision and audit layers.
Know the law and your rights
The legal landscape moves quickly, and the most common mistake is treating a proposed bill as if it were already law. Two things worth knowing: survivors of CSAM have under-claimed financial remedies, and platforms now face hard removal deadlines.
- Laws & policy tracker — enacted law versus proposed bills across the US, EU, UK, and Australia, each with its status, date, and primary source.
- Restitution for survivors: “Masha's Law” (18 U.S.C. § 2255) provides a $150,000 statutory-minimum civil claim, alongside criminal restitution and the DOJ Victims Reserve — the removal guide explains how to pursue these.
The complete guide library
The recommendations in Chapter 08 are deliberately concise. Each one has a companion guide that translates it into step-by-step action for the people most likely to need it. The full set:
- For Parents — protecting your child without needing to be a tech expert.
- For Survivors — survivor-centered paths through removal, reporting, and care.
- For People Seeking Help — confidential, non-judgmental guidance for people worried about their own thoughts or behavior.
- For Educators — playbooks for the situations school staff meet unprepared.
- For Reporting Content — where and how to report CSAM and abuse.
- For Therapists — the clinical companion: screening, modalities, and the forensic-versus-therapeutic line.
- For Tech CEOs, For Developers, and For Compliance Teams — the build, implementation, and audit layers for platforms.
- For Attorneys — evidence-based context for counsel in CSAM cases.